As we move into the second month of the 114th Congress, I thought it might be helpful to provide a quick summary highlighting what we accomplished during the past few weeks.

In order to better serve you, we opened three main offices across the 7th Congressional District. These offices are located in Bolivia, Wilmington and Smithfield. I think you will find our staff is exceptional and can assist you with a variety of issues — everything from veterans’ affairs casework to helping with passports.

Did you know that if you are younger than 65 and have a disability, you might be eligible for Medicare? If you have questions about your health insurance options, SHIIP can help. SHIIP, the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program, is a division of the North Carolina Department of Insurance that provides free, unbiased counseling about Medicare not just to seniors, but also to people on Medicare because of disability.

The Tar Heel Family knew this day would come soon, but it hurt anyway. Dean Smith, the longtime men’s basketball coach of my alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, died Saturday night at 83. It was only slightly less shocking than the news that dementia was robbing our great coach of his sharp memory.

Those are the days local forestry and conservancy officials gathered at a Brunswick County trailhead of the 15,000-acre nature preserve to plant 1,200 donated longleaf pine seedlings across five acres.

The seedlings were donated by the North Carolina Division of the Society of American Foresters in a pledge drive last summer by WHQR Public Radio in Wilmington. As part of the effort, The Nature Conservancy promised to plant one longleaf pine seedling for each pledge to the public radio station.

BOLIVIA — North Brunswick High School students will welcome bulldozers and other heavy equipment to their campus in the coming months as a groundbreaking ceremony for the school’s permanent additions is right around the corner.

Funding for the permanent additions to the school’s Leland campus should be secured by April, district spokeswoman Jessica Swencki said in an interview Tuesday, Feb. 10. The project’s budget is more than $5 million.